Western University not budging after 'Playboy' convocation speech apology draws fire

Western University doesn’t appear to be backing down following criticism that its apology over remarks made by university donor Aubrey Dan in a recent convocation speech missed the mark.

Dan, whose namesake at Western is the DAN Department of Management and Organizational Studies, cited Playboy Magazine’s assessment of Western University female students, while receiving a honorary doctorate of laws degree.

While both the university and Dan issued apologies, Johanna Weststar, an associate professor of psychology, responded by saying the apologies were not good enough because they apologized only for people being offended rather than taking responsibility for the content of his remarks.

When contacted Thursday a spokesperson for Western University directed The London Free Press to the same apology posted earlier this week. The spokesperson did not respond to questions about whether the university would revise its original apology.

Weststar said she was “disappointed.”

“Ultimately there is nothing I can do at this point,” Weststar said. “If that’s the institutional position, then that the institutional position.”

And, while she said the onus was on Dan to apologize, she had hoped Western would have been more involved.

“My wish would have been that Western could have worked with him on that,” she said.

In his speech Dan said one of his reasons for choosing to attend Western was that, “according to Playboy Magazine, at the time, the women are among the best in North America, and obviously they still are.”

In his apology Dan stated: “My remarks were made to provide a context of what went through my 19-year-old mind when deciding back in 1983 to go to Western. Nothing to do with being sexist at all.”

While Western issued an apology “to those who attended this convocation ceremony and all others who were offended by these remarks,” it also referenced its “longstanding relationship with Mr. Dan that includes his tireless efforts to encourage and support thousands of students at Western.”

A Western PhD candidate who raised the issue on Twitter has said she’s unmoved by the apology.

“I am not even a little satisfied with this farce of an apology,” Lesley Bikos wrote. “The ‘he’s a good guy and didn’t mean harm’ defence is tired. Do better.”

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